Waiting For Your Call
by three-days-late
Summary: AU. One day Arthur receives the strangest miscall of his life from an American named Alfred. He doesn't think too much about it...until he calls back the next day.
1. Chapter 1

**This was written for the usxuk livejournal community's 2010 Secret Santa...that I forgot to post here during Christmas. orz **

**It only mentions the holidays at the end as a plot device, so all good? :D?**

**Characters for this part: **America, England, Canada, France. Mentions of Prussia, Austria/Hungary.

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Arthur Kirkland led a fairly average life. He lived in an average apartment in an average part of London. Every morning he'd wake up at an average time and eat an average breakfast, drive his average British car to his average office job from 9-5 (with a break for an average lunch and tea time, of course), went back to his average home alone (not that he cared; most people were a nuisance anyway), ate an average dinner, and read an average book or watched some average telly if he didn't have some other average task to do that night before he went to bed and had some average dreams. Wake up the next morning, rinse, and repeat.

So when Arthur's phone rang towards the end of the work day one day, he had no reason to expect anything out of the ordinary about it. Of course, he was wrong.

"Arthur Kirkland speaking," he answered his phone as he normally did.

"_Mattie where the hell were you last night?_" a rather loud and obnoxious voice with a god-awful accent that Arthur couldn't place shouted at him. "_You left me stranded there! Not cool!"_

"Excuse me?"

"_Don't give me that! You knowingly left me at that bar with Gilbert and Elizaveta and that's just…that's just low dude. I know you're still mad about the snake thing, but-"_

"As much as I loathe interrupting your pointless drivel, I must inform you that you have the wrong number."

"_What? Matt what's wrong with your voice? You sound all British and stuff._"

"You haven't heard a word I've said, have you?"

"_Well it's hard to understand when you're talking in an accent!"_

Oh, his accent was American. That explained a lot, "Really Child, you must know that you're the one with the accent around here."

"_The hell are you talking about? Everyone in New York talks like this! … And I'm not a child!"_

"Then stop acting like one," He'd called from New York? Arthur had just assumed he was on holiday or studying abroad in England, not an ocean away, "I must say I'm impressed that you managed to get your friend's number so wrong that you called London, but you do indeed have the wrong number."

"_London? Matt, what are you doing in London?_"

This boy was starting to try Arthur's limited patience, and he didn't even know who he was, "You have the wrong bloody number! My name is Arthur, as I told you at the beginning of this conversation, a fact you seem content to ignore!"

"_Arthur?_" Arthur sighed in relief, it seem the information was finally sinking in, "_Oh, so, if you're Arthur, where's Mattie?_"

"I honestly have no idea, as I have never met either of you before in my life, nor do I plan to."

"_Haha, that's a good one Arthur,_" was it just him or could he actually hear the boy smile through the phone? "_Everyone wants to meet me; most of them just don't know it yet. So what are you doing?"_

"As in right now?"

"_Yup!"_

"Hanging up." And he proceeded to do just that.

Arthur Kirkland put his phone back in his briefcase and continued with his average day, the strange phone call from America far from his mind.

* * *

Alfred F. Jones hated the typical. As soon as he graduated high school he packed his bags and left his no-name small town in the middle of Connecticut and moved to New York City, started studying physics at NYU so he could learn how to save the world, and spent the rest of his time seeking out adventure whenever life handed it to him.

He didn't expect an adventure of sorts to happen simply by calling his half-brother, but you take what you get.

"_You have the wrong bloody number!_" the voice that was starting to sound less and less like Matt shouted at him, "_My name is Arthur, as I told you at the beginning of this conversation, a fact you seem content to ignore!"_

"Arthur?" Matt must have stolen his phone at some point and changed his number around. Jerk, the snake thing wasn't that bad, "Oh, so if you're Arthur, where's Mattie?"

"_I honestly have no idea, as I've never met either of you before, nor do I plan to."_

That didn't sit well with Alfred, as he had every intention on meeting this Arthur guy. Wrong number or not, Matt had put this number in his phone for a reason, and he was determined to find out what that reason was, "Haha, that's a good one Arthur. Everyone wants to meet me; most of them just don't know it yet. So what are you doing?"

"_As in right now?"_

"Yup!"

"_Hanging up."_

Alfred stared at his tone in disbelief as Arthur followed through with his words, "Well that was pretty rude of him."

He was ready to dial him back when he spotted Matthew entering the student center too, "Matt!" Alfred shouted over to his half brother, "Where the hell were you last night and why did you change your number on my phone?"

Matthew squeaked and jumped before he realized it was just Alfred. Instead he sighed and took a seat across from him, "What are you talking about Alfred?"

"You were supposed to meet Gilbert, Elizaveta, and me at that bar last night but you never showed," Alfred crossed his arms and pouted, "You _know_ what they're like ever since Liz started seeing that musician guy."

"Sorry about that," he actually did look sorry, which he should be, "I was cleaning my apartment and I got a bit distracted."

"You found that old stuffed bear and ended up staring at it for hours again didn't you?" Matt blushed and adverted his gaze, and suddenly Alfred couldn't find the heart to stay mad at him, "You're pretty absentminded you know?"

"Look who's talking," Matt muttered.

"But that still doesn't explain why you gave me some Arthur-guy's number."

"I did what now?"

Alfred flipped open his phone and started shifting through his contacts, "I tried to call you this morning and I got some British guy. Who is he and why did you give me his number?"

"After that prank you pulled with the snakes I went into your phone and changed my number," he shrugged.

"It was mostly Gil's idea," Alfred pouted, "And it wasn't _that_ bad."

"Yes it was, and I already took care of Gilbert. Anyway, I didn't mean to give you anyone's specific number; I just did it at random."

"Huh," Alfred slid his phone across the table to Matt, "Well, you should put it back in my phone just in case I do something stupid and need you to bail me out."

"Fine," Matthew snatched up the phone from the table and started pressing the buttons, "But can you try to be a little more grateful this time?"

"Yeah sure whatever," Alfred had lost interest in the conversation and was looking at the other people in the student center instead, "Hey, Braginski's sister's here."

"Which one?" Matt asked, not looking up.

"The cute one with the huge boobs that you have a crush on," Matt's cheeks turned pink as he continued staring intently at the phone, "You should go say hi."

Matt's face turned a shade darker as he continued looking through Alfred's phone, "W-who's Arthur?"

"What?"

"In your contacts, you have an Arthur, but you don't know an…wait did you say the guy you accidentally called was-"

"I didn't accidentally call him, you gave me his number."

"I didn't give you his number! And that's no reason to keep it in your phone!"

"Oh hey look at the time," Alfred snatched the phone away from his brother as he stood up, "I need to get to class now. Catch you later Mattie!"

"Al wait-" but his protests were in vain, as Alfred was already out the door.

* * *

Arthur was having a rough morning. His annoying French coworker was back from his trip to France and insisted on being all French in Arthur's personal space to make up for the week he couldn't. This morning he discovered he was out of tea, and he hadn't been able to stop and get any before work, or during any of his breaks, so he was running on _no tea,_ and his boss just informed him that the project he'd handed to him yesterday was due tomorrow and he _still hadn't had any tea _and –

Arthur's cell started ringing, interrupting his inner tirade. "Arthur Kirkland speaking," he answered, trying his best to keep his frustration out of his voice.

"_Hey Artie!_" Arthur winced and held the phone away from his ear, "_Remember me? I called you yesterday._"

As if his life wasn't terrible enough, that stupid American from the other day had called him back. Just brilliant, "Oh god, not you again…"

"_Haha! You remember me!_" the fact that this clown seemed so happy only worsened Arthur's mood, "_The name's Alfred, by the way. I don't think I told you it yesterday."_

"Frankly Alfred, I don't give a damn," Arthur rested his elbows on his desk and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now."

"Mood to deal with what, pray tell?" Francis asked as he popped his head over the wall their cubicles shared, "Do I sense a lover's spat? You have indeed been busy in my absence, Mr. Kirkland."

"Piss off Francis," Arthur growled as he kicked at the wall to dislodge Francis, "I really don't need you right now."

"Oh, so cruel! You'll always be a hooligan at heart, won't you?" Francis shouted over the wall. He would still listen to Arthur's conversation, but at least he didn't have to see his froggy little face while he did so.

"_Who's Francis?_" That's right he still had this Alfred character to deal with.

"No one of any importance to you. Now did you call for a reason or just to piss me off further?"

"_You sound stressed."_

"No shit Sherlock. Thank you for that brilliant deduction of yours."

"_Happy to help,_" if he hadn't been on another continent, Arthur would go find the brat and strangle him, "_But what's wrong?_"

"What's wrong? Other than annoying coworkers invading my personal space, over demanding bosses, and a surprising lack of tea? Well I have this American that won't stop calling me."

"He's American?" Francis asked over the wall, "My my Mr. Kirkland, you sure do get around!"

"Belt up!" Arthur kicked the wall, but all that seemed to do was make Francis laugh harder.

"_Sounds rough over there_," Alfred went on, "_Kinda makes me feel a bit better, actually. Haha!_"

He glared, not that the boy on the receiving end of that glare could see him, "Glad my misery was able to brighten your day."

"_That's schadenfreude for you, I guess."_

"I'm surprised a child like you knows such a big word."

"_Hey! I'm 19! I'm not a child!_"

"19 huh?" Arthur smirked, "Still a child after all."

"_I'm not a child!_" Alfred insisted, "_I'm an adult! I'm paying my own way through school and everything."_

"You're still in school?"

"_Yup! I'm studying physics at NYU._"

"That's in New York, I presume."

"_Yeah, it's great! I love being in the city."_

"I take it then that you're not from the city?" Arthur wasn't really interested in what he had to say, it was just Alfred was a welcome distraction right from the rest of his life now.

"_Haha, no I'm from Connecticut, born and raised, but I like the city better."_

"Where's that?"

"_Connecticut? It's in America."_

Arthur rolled his eyes, "I realize _that_ git, where in America?"

"_It's by New York and Massachusetts. You know where that is right?"_

"O-of course! That's the one with the, uh, Boston in it..." United States geography was not one of the subjects he took the time to study carefully.

"_Yup that's the one! Connecticut was nice, but I like New York better. Have you ever been here?"_

"No, I live in London. I can't just hop on a train and be in America the next day."

"_Just wondering,"_ Alfred laughed again and Arthur felt his own mouth form a small smile as well,_ "Oh shit, is that the time? Sorry Artie, I've gotta go. I'll call you tomorrow!"_

It was then that Arthur remembered he was supposed to be mad at this nuisance, "Don't bother."

"_No it's cool; I still got your number. Bye!"_

Arthur could only stare at his phone and wonder just what had happened over the last few minutes. For some reason, he felt more relaxed than he did before he picked up the phone.

"Oh, did lover boy have to go?" he kicked the wall again for good measure, but there was less force behind it.

Moments later, one of the interns turned up at his cubicle with a cup of tea. Arthur's day was already looking better.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow you guys. Such an epic response. :Db. I'll get to your comments soon if I haven't already, and I'll get the rest up asap.  
**

**Characters for this part: **America, England, Prussia, France.

**Enjoy.**

* * *

It went on like that for about a month. Alfred called Arthur every weekday at 10 when he knew he'd be able to answer his phone while he was stuck in the student center between classes. Arthur would yell and tell him he didn't have the time or patience to deal with him and that his behavior was bordering stalkerish. After that was out of his system, Arthur would calm down and the two of them would just talk about…well, everything and anything that came to mind. Last week they got caught up discussing real American football and the fake British-football-that's-really-soccer so much that Alfred ended up late for class.

Today, Alfred was telling Arthur about his studies and his future plans to work for NASA. It's not like he hadn't tried getting Arthur to talk about himself – he had, several times – but Arthur always managed to move the conversation back to Alfred. Not that he had any problems with that, after all if there was one topic Alfred knew and loved more than anything, it was himself.

"_You want to be an astronaut?_"

"Not want to be, going to be," Alfred corrected, "They need a lot of heroes in space."

"_You'd have to be a lot smarter than you let on to seriously consider that career path._"

"Of course I'm smart. They don't let just anyone mess around with the time machine."

"_Time what now?_"

"What you mean you don't know?" Alfred grinned, picturing Arthur's confused face in his head, or what he imagined Arthur's confused face would be, since he still had no idea what the man looked like, "All physicists have a time machine. I thought that was common knowledge."

"_You're not a real physicist yet. You're still only a student!"_

"Duh," he glanced up at the clock that said he had about ten minutes until his class started, "That's why the university lets me use theirs."

A pause and the sound of some papers shuffling, then, "_You're just making things up._"

"No no, of course I'm not Artie! My time machine is just as real as your fairies are," one of the few things he did manage to find out about Arthur was that he believed in childish things like fairies and unicorns. And he insisted _Alfred_ was the childish one.

"_J-just because you can't see them doesn't mean they're not there…_"

"If you say so. I gotta go or I'm going to be late. I'll call you tomorrow!"

"_Don't bother._"

"Talk to you then, bye!" Alfred flipped his phone shut and turned to gather up the homework he was working on before when he noticed Gilbert sitting across from him, sipping some coffee. "Gil! How long have you been there?"

Gilbert smirked, "Long enough to know that you've got it bad."

Alfred's cheeks turned pink, "N-no! Why would you even…?"

"It's that Arthur guy from England, the one Matt told me about right?" he took another sip of coffee while Alfred nodded, "From my experience, if you're talking to them on the phone for more than ten minutes, you're trying to get into their pants."

Alfred felt his face heat up even more, "I don't even know what they guy looks like, let alone anything that would make me want to…you know…with him."

"Oh Alfred," Gilbert sighed, "I recall a time when I was that innocent."

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow.

"No. Just get him to send a picture or something. Or just jump right into the phone sex and use your imagination."

Alfred buried his face in his hands, "Why are we friends again?"

"Because my advice is awesome and has never steered you wrong."

"What about that snake thing with Matt?"

"Hey look at the time aren't you going to be late for class?"

Alfred looked up at the clock to find out Gilbert was absolutely right. "Shit!" He shoved his papers into his bag and ran out the door, ignoring Gilbert's laughing, he's own warmed cheeks, and the last five minutes of conversation.

* * *

Arthur stared at his phone, which hadn't rung yet, before looking at the clock that now said it was 3:07. Alfred had, up until this point, always called him at 3:00 on the dot. This was strange.

Not a bad strange, certainly not. It wasn't like Arthur was _looking forward_ to Alfred's call or anything. God no, the boy's antics were a nuisance and slowed down his day. Just that this was the first weekday since the first miscall that Alfred hadn't called him, and it was a little off-putting. That was all.

Arthur definitely wasn't worried about Alfred either. The fact that he hadn't called today just meant that he had finally realized how much he annoyed Arthur and that he was better off leaving him alone, which was good for Arthur, even if the thought made him feel sad and forgotten and –

No, no Arthur wasn't sad, he was happy. He was happy he didn't have to waste precious moments of his life trying to entertain Alfred anymore. This was a good thing, a _very _good thing, and that horrible feeling of disappoint at the pit of his stomach was his body's way of telling him how overjoyed he was about Alfred leaving his life so suddenly.

The clock now said 3:08.

"What's this?" Francis poked his head over the cubicle wall, "No call from Lover Boy today? Did you end up driving him away like all the others?"

Since it wasn't going to ring, Arthur decided his phone could be put to better use injuring Francis's head.

"And you wonder what drove him away," Francis said as he dodged, "You should call him and apologize for whatever it is you did this time."

"I didn't do anything," Arthur turned back to his computer to get some work done, "He was annoying, and Alfred not calling ever again is a good thing."

"So you don't care?"

"Not at all." 3:09.

"Really?" Francis leaned over to see what Arthur was typing, "Then why did you just type his name in that report?"

Arthur stopped typing and read over the last few sentences. As it turned out, he had typed Alfred's name not once, but three times in the past two sentences, along with the phrases 'phone call' and 'selfish git.'

"It's a different Alfred," he said as he hit the backspace key.

"Of course," Francis sat back down in his cubicle, "If you're that worried about him, then just call him!"

"I'm not worried," Arthur shouted back, "I'm perfectly content never speaking to Alfred Jones again."

And he was somehow able to convince himself of such for another three hours.

* * *

Alfred groggily awoke to the sound of his phone ringing. He blindly felt for around his nightstand, grumbling about useless friends calling him when he already told them all he was sick. Eventually he found it, flipped it open, and put it to his ear, "Whaaat? I'm sleepinnnnng," he whined into it.

"_Well excuse me princess!_" a very British voice shouted back, "_I didn't realize American's got so cranky if they miss their afternoon nap!"_

Wait, Alfred only knew one British person, "Arthur…?"

"_Yes brilliant deduction Sherlock!_"

"Arthur…" shit, "What time is it?" he sat up, ignoring the intense nausea that hit him as he did so, and looked around for his clock, not that he could see anything without his glasses.

"_It's about 6 here, so I assume it's around 1 there._" Even if he was simply telling the time, Arthur still sounded angry. Double shit.

"Sorry about missing our phone date…" Alfred yawned.

"_W-what?" _Had he said that out loud? Triple shit. Ever since that conversation with Gilbert a few days ago he had been, well, it doesn't matter. It wouldn't work out anyway, "_D-don't misunderstand! I'm not calling because I'm _upset_ that you didn't call. It just completely messed up my schedule and you should know what a nuisance you are._"

"You set your schedule around me?" Even through Arthur's rage and his own fever, Alfred couldn't help but smile at that thought.

"_N-no! I just meant that I had grown accustomed to you calling me, and you suddenly not threw me off!_"

"…So you called me?" Alfred grinned and lied back down on the bed as he listened to Arthur try to stutter out a response. "Thanks for caring."

"_I don't care,_" Arthur insisted, "_This call is to inform you that I don't care._"

"I dunno," he yawned, "Seems like if you really didn't care, it would just be easier to not call?"

"_I, well…_" Arthur coughed, and Alfred imagined he was blushing somewhere, probably back at his house by now, sitting in some kind of giant, comfortable arm chair in the middle of a study, sipping tea. Yeah, totally sipping tea, and blushing. He probably looked really cute… "_I might have, well, been a tad bit curious why you didn't call so suddenly…_"

"I'm sick, I caught a cold last night," as if to prove it, he was overcome with a coughing fit, "S-sorry I missed-"

"_That's alright lad,_" his voice was a hundred times calmer and a thousand times gentler then it had been before, "_If you're sick, you should be resting_."

"I was sleeping," but he wasn't now. What happened in between? Oh yes, "then you woke me up."

"_Sorry about that. I'll go and-"_

"No! I mean, uh…" he was disappointed when didn't get to call Arthur before. Now that Arthur had actually called him he didn't want him to just go away, "We can still, you know, talk and stuff."

"_If you're sick you should get some sleep. It's the only way you're going to feel better. I'll call you tomorrow and we can talk then."_

"Promise?"

"_Yes, I promise._"

"Kay, but, um, Arthur…"

"_Yes lad?_"

Alfred decided he liked it when Arthur called him lad all British like that, "Uh…I can't sleep."

"_Just close your eyes and try._"

"I did…s'not working."

"_Well, what do you want me to do about it?_"

"Since you woke me up, it's only fair you put me back to sleep."

"_You want a lullaby then?_"

"Yes please."

A pause and another cough before, "_Go to sleep…go to sleep…go to sleep within the cradles of hell!_" the creepiest song Alfred had ever heard.

"Wh-what the hell was that!" he shrieked, in a manly way, and even if it wasn't it was completely justified.

"_I'm trying to put you to sleep and you're complaining?_"

"Who's going to go to sleep with you trying to summon a demon over there or something? My god if that's what you sing to your kids at night-"

"_I don't have any kids!"_

"You don't?"

"_It's not like I'm married…how old do you think I am?_"

Alfred shrugged before he realized Arthur couldn't see it, "Dunno. 42?"

"_What the…I'm 23!_"

"42's always a good guess when you don't know," So Arthur was 23. That wasn't too much older than Alfred, "You single?"

"_Yes, but what does that have to do with the conversation?_"

Alfred thought about it for a bit. "Nothing. I'm single too, but, uh, yeah. Sleeping."

"_Y-yes about that…"_ Arthur was probably blushing again. Blushing and sipping his tea and surrounded by sheep somewhere. Now there was an idea…

"Hey, since you suck at lullabies, why don't you count me some sheep?"

"_What?_"

"Yeah, your voice is kinda relaxing when it's not trying to summon demons, so you can just count me some sheep," Alfred yawned again, "Please?"

"_Y-you think my voice is relaxing?_"

"S'probably the accent. About those sheep?"

"_Oh, yes, right."_

He was right; Arthur's voice did relax him enough to put him to sleep in no time. Or it might have been the fever and the medication, but either way, soon after he found himself dreaming about British sheep wearing top hats at a tea party.

Alfred was pretty sure he only dreamed the "_Sweet dreams, love,_" that floated into his ear as he drifted off.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey dudes, I see y'all are here for part 3. Just so you know this is a four part story (with a so far unwritten epilogue scheduled for eventually) so we're approaching the end here!  
**

**Characters for this part: **America, England, France, China, Hungary, with some Canada/Ukraine on the side.

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Arthur showed up at the office the next day in a fantastic mood. He practically skipped and whistled to his desk, but managed to hold back, barely.

"Somebody had a good night," Francis sang as Arthur took his seat. "You called him, didn't you?"

Arthur gave him a non committal grunt and swiveled his chair way from him. Francis took that as a yes and kept talking.

"So you _did_ take my advice! And how was the phone sex?"

Arthur felt his face heat up as he spluttered out, "W-what? It's not like that! I don't even know what the prat looks like!"

"My poor, disillusioned friend," Francis sighed and shook his head, "have you ever heard the phrase, 'Love is blind?'"

"It's not like that," he repeated as he concentrated on his computer screen.

Francis was about to reply, but thought better of it when their boss, a short Asian man by the name of Wang Yao, arrived at Arthur's cubicle.

"Kirkland!" he barked, causing Arthur to wince, as he waved some papers in front of him, "Care to explain how your _company cell phone_ managed to accumulate over $1000 in charges this month?"

"I…" shit, it was all those international calls from Alfred. Somehow the boy had made him forget that he kept calling on his company phone, and those charges had to go somewhere. Speaking of charges, Alfred was still only a student. How had _he_ managed to pay for all those calls?

"Well?" Yao started tapping his foot, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Arthur should worry about not getting his arse fired now, Alfred's phone bill later, "I, well, you see…"

"Isn't it obvious?" Francis interrupted, "He's just been calling his American business contact."

Yao and Arthur stared blankly at him, "What?"

"You know how you are always telling us to 'search for ways to expand business opportunities,' yes Mr. Wang? Mr. Kirkland has been doing just that."

Yao raised an eyebrow, "Is that true Kirkland?"

"Yes?" Arthur cleared his throat and tried again, "Of course it is, sir."

"Well then," Yao looked over the bill in his hands once more, "You should have told me you had overseas contacts. I'll have you switch to an international plan so it's cheaper."

"Yes sir," Arthur felt elated. Yao had actually bought it, and not only was he off scot free, now he had an even easier way to talk to Alfred on company time. This was brilliant!

"This is a real convenience for me," Yao went on, "The higher ups have been talking about creating a US branch. If you have a contact there, I can have you work on setting that up."

As suddenly as they appeared, all the good feelings left Arthur, "I, but, I mean –"

"He'll be happy to do it!" Francis answered before Arthur could get out a coherent sentence.

"Excellent. I'll call the phone company about your new phone right away. It should be here by this afternoon. Start packing your bags, Mr. Kirkland, you're off to America in a week," he waved and went back to his office.

As soon as his boss was out of earshot, Arthur smashed his head against his keyboard.

"You're welcome," Francis exclaimed, as if Arthur actually owed him a favor for what had just transpired.

"For what?" he lifted up his head and turned to glare at the bane of his existence.

"With my quick thinking, not only did you not get fired, you're probably going to get a pay raise," Francis said as studied his fingernails, "Not only that, but now you get a trip to America to be with Lover Boy all on the company's dime. I believe a simple thank you is the least I deserve."

"Until Yao finds out that I'm lying, which should be as soon as I touch down in America, considering my 'business contact,'" he over exaggerated the air quotes, "is actually a physics student! A bit hard to set up an overseas branch with one of those!"

"You worry too much, Mr. Kirkland," Francis sighed, "I've already got it under control."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. Whenever Francis Bonnefoy said he had things 'under control,' nine times out of ten it meant a world of hurt and humiliation for him, "Under control how?"

Francis looked scandalized, "Mr. Kirkland! Do you not trust me?" When Arthur just continued glaring, he relented, "As you should, but you of all people should know I am completely serious when love is on the line."

"L-love?" Arthur blushed and averted his gaze, "What love? What are you talking about?"

"Obviously you and Lover Boy are madly, passionately in love with each other, but have been cursed to live on separate continents," he sighed in a dramatic way, "Lucky for both of you, you have your own personal cupid and his cute assistant niece in America to get you two together."

"We're certainly not," Arthur swiveled his chair so Francis couldn't see his red face, "passionately in love with each other. And what are you talking about?"

"You see Mr. Kirkland, I like to think ahead. I've heard through the grapevine that the higher ups have been considering a US branch, and have been in contact with my lovely niece Sophie, you remember her right? She's the cute one."

"Glasses, bow, gambling problem? Yes, I remember her."

Francis shook his head, "It's not a problem if she wins, which she always does. Anyway, she's been working for a certain American company that may be interested in a partnership to help launch our US branch…"

"Hang on a minute," he spun back around to face Francis's smirk, "You're telling me that you and your niece have already done all the legwork in secret and are perfectly willing to let me just show up and take the credit?"

"Yes, I believe that is what I am telling you."

Arthur crossed his arms, "And the catch is?"

"The catch is that there is no catch."

"There's probably going to be a promotion and a pay raise in my future because of this. Why wouldn't you keep that for yourself?"

"Arthur," he sighed, "I've told you: if it's for love, I'm willing to make sacrifices."

He called him Arthur. Francis never used his first name unless he was being absolutely serious. There was just one problem, "I'm not in love!"

"Yes you are. You're in denial as well. Shame how those two usually go hand in hand."

"I don't…" he spun back around again and buried his face in his arms on his desk, "I don't even know what he looks like…"

"I've told you before-"

"And he…" Francis leaned forward to hear Arthur better, "He…doesn't even know what I look like either."

He chuckled, "Is that what you're worried about? Arthur, you are not an ugly man." Arthur snorted in response, "I'm serious! I would consider bedding you myself if I didn't already know you have a horrible personality. Since Lover Boy already knows about that, the size of your eyebrows shouldn't be a problem." When he remained silent, Francis added, "And if this Alfred has any intelligence to speak of, he's not going to let you go that easily."

There was a pause, then a quiet, not quite there, "Really?"

"Yes, really."

Francis turned back to his desk and almost missed the "Thanks Francis" from the cubicle next door.

"Like I said before, you're quite welcome."

* * *

"_The number you are trying to reach is no longer in service. Please hang up and try again._"

Alfred gave his phone a blank, disbelieving stare and tried again, only to get the same result as the first twenty times he tried to call Arthur. Eventually he had to face the fact that Arthur blocked his number and smashed his head on the table in front of him, burying it in his arms.

He must have scared Arthur away for good last night. Alfred didn't even remember the full conversation, just that Arthur called, that made him happy, he got him to admit he was single, and he counted sheep for him. He didn't quite recall what happened in between, but he must have insulted the man's family somehow, or even worse, told him about his growing, not-as-secret-as-he'd-like crush on him, causing Arthur to freak and change his number so Alfred couldn't contact him again and –

"Hey Alfred," Elizabeta's voice interrupted his inner ramblings as she sat down across from him.

"Hey," Alfred shifted his head so his chin was resting on the table.

"Everything alright?" she asked taking a sip from her coffee.

"Peachy," he sighed, still sounding as depressed as he felt.

"Does it have to do with that guy you keep talking to on the phone?" her curiosity suddenly peaked.

Ever since Elizaveta found it he wasn't exactly straight, she'd taken an abnormal amount of interest in his love life. Alfred didn't mind as much as some other people might have though, since her advice was normally good, and the only other people he could rely on for that kind of thing was Matt, who spent most of his time wallowing in his own feelings and not doing anything about them, and Gilbert, who was, well, Gilbert.

"Yeah…he kinda, uh, blocked my number or changed his phone or something. Thing is I can't call him anymore and he lives in England so I can't just go see him in person and even if I did go to England I wouldn't be able to find his house and –"

"Alfred, you're rambling," she interrupted with a smile.

He sat up in his chair and crossed his arms, "Yeah, well, Arthur's annoying."

"Love is annoying," she corrected. Alfred blushed but didn't deny it, "but I'm sure you're just over thinking things. Maybe he just broke his phone and is in the process of getting a new one?"

"Maybe…" Alfred sighed and rested his head on his arms again.

"Where's Matt?" Elizaveta asked to steer the conversation away from a topic that was clearly distressing her friend, "Don't you two usually meet here for studying?"

"Yeah, but he said he was studying somewhere else today…" Alfred pouted and turned his head away from the nearby wall to watch the students in the student center. Classes were over, and with finals just around the corner, every student had their head buried in a stack of books. Alfred was no different, currently using his physics notebook.

"But isn't that him over there?" he sat up and followed where Elizaveta was pointing with his eyes, to the corner of the room where Matt and Braginski's sister, what's her name, the hot one without the knives, Katrina or Katyusha or something Russian with a K, were currently studying. At least the books piled around them indicated some type of studying was supposed to be going on. They were currently laughing, talking and drinking something warm, completely ignoring the books.

"I'll be damned…I wonder why he didn't tell me about his study date?"

"After the snake thing? Are you kidding?"

"It wasn't that bad!" Alfred sat up to defend himself properly, "And you weren't even there!"

She rolled her eyes, "The whole campus knows about it, only they call it an 'Alfred Jones.'"

"It was Gilbert's idea," he pouted and glared at his phone, the source of all his current frustration.

Elizaveta leaned across the table to pat Alfred comfortingly on the arm, "He'll call."

"You don't know that for sure…" Suddenly his phone started ringing. Elizaveta leaned back as Alfred snatched the phone off the table and noticed it was from an unknown number. An unknown number that had the same area code as Arthur.

He turned away from her as he answered the phone with a rushed, "Hello?"

"_You're sounding better_," an overly British voice greeted, "_How are you feeling?_"

"Arthur!" Alfred smiled and noticed Elizaveta silently giggling out of the corner of his eye. He felt his face heat up as he kept talking, "Yeah, I'm a fast recoverer. How are you?"

"_…Dandy. Just dandy._"

Alfred's smile fell a little at the pause, but he pressed on, "Hey what's up with your phone? I tried calling it before but…"

"_Ah, yes, well, my boss found out about you calling me all the time and decided it would be better if I got a new phone._"

Whoops, he forgot that international calls cost a lot of money. His parents were not going to be happy with the phone bill this month, "Sorry if I got you in trouble, although a new phone is a weird punishment."

"_It's not a punishment. It's, well…_"

"_Just tell him now!_" Alfred heard another voice shout, "_Unless you want to surprise him…"_

"_Stop listening in on private conversations frog!_" he heard Arthur shout back.

"Surprise me with what?"

"_Ah, well…long story short, my boss is sending me to America. New York to be precise._"

"So wait…" Alfred could feel his smile slowly form as he processed the information, "You're coming _here_?"

"_I'm coming to the city," _he amended,_ "It's a big city, so th-there's no guarantee we'll bump into each other…_"

"Like hell!" he slammed his fist on the table, causing Elizaveta to jump and spill some of her coffee. Alfred quickly apologized before continuing, "If we're going to be in the same city, hell the same side of the ocean, I'll make sure we see each other!"

"_I-idiot…_" Arthur sighed, but for some reason Alfred knew he was smiling, "_I'm going to have to cut this short, I have to prepare for my trip."_

"When are you coming?"

"_In about a week._"

"Cool, so I'll see you then?" he hated how unsure his voice sounded.

The brief pause didn't help, "_Yes, I'll see you then._"

"Okay. Yeah. Great. Then."

"_Indeed,_" another pause, and Alfred felt his face start to heat up, "_I really do have to go._"

"Yeah, uh, I'll call you tomorrow?"

"_Of course,_" by the time Alfred processed that that was the first time Arthur told him to call him back, he had already hung up.

"Good conversation?" Elizaveta asked bringing Alfred out of the world of bliss his mind had descended into.

"Uh, yeah. Maybe," he felt his face heat up more and knew he was probably still smiling like an idiot, "He's coming here next week…"

"I heard," she gave him an all knowing smirk that he was content to ignore, "So what are you going to do about it?"

"See him, obviously."

"_Just_ see him? Alfred this is your big chance!" she leaned forward and looked him in the eye, "I say you go for it."

"I agree," he leaned forward as well, "Go for what now?"

"You need to tell Arthur that you're madly, passionately in love with him but you hesitate to start anything further due to the curse of being separated by an ocean."

"That's…great Liz," he smiled awkwardly, "but-"

"Yet your love cannot be contained merely through phone calls," she continued, "and you tell him as much just before you dramatically pull him in for the most passionate and intense kiss either of you have ever had!"

Alfred felt his face go red as he leaned back and scratched the back of his head, "Uh, Liz…"

"The snow starts falling as you both pull back. You realize that your emotions had gotten the best of you and you quickly try to apologize for your actions, but he cuts you off by pulling you down for another kiss. And then-"

"Liz!" Alfred whisper-shouted, "You're doing it again."

"Oh," she took a sip of coffee to hide her blush, "Sorry about that."

"It's alright," he smiled uneasily and leaned back in his chair.

"You should do it though."

"Do what now?"

She rolled her eyes, "Tell him how you feel. Even if it isn't that dramatic, it's still your last chance."

"I wouldn't say _last _chance," he chuckled nervously, "Would you?"

"Well, it's a very good chance, and you should do it."

"I…" Alfred looked over to where Matt and Braginski's sister were. They had packed up their books and were saying their goodbyes, but just as he turned to leave, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek before waving and leaving the student center. Matt stood there, frozen and red for about a minute before he left too.

If he told Arthur how he felt, would he respond like that? Would he blush and kiss him and return his feelings? That would make Alfred happy. Happier than he could ever remember being in his entire life. To have Arthur hug him and kiss him and say "I love you" back…

But Arthur's never seen him before. Alfred wasn't shallow enough to turn him away if he turned out to have a massive forehead or burn scars across his face or missing limbs or huge, furry eyebrows or something, and he was pretty sure Arthur wasn't either. But what if Arthur had expectations of Alfred? He could be expecting Alfred to be some kind of posh, upper class, always in fashion New Yorker and instead be getting just small town, I'm-pretty-sure-this-hoodie-is-still-clean-even-if-it's-the-fifth-time-I'm-wearing-it-this-week, video game and comic nerd Alfred.

No, Alfred tried to convince himself, Arthur wasn't like that. He was a pretty good judge of character, and he could tell Arthur would care about things like that if he really did love Alfred back. Of course, even that was just Alfred being hopeful.

"I'll…maybe. I'll think about it," Alfred grabbed his stuff and stood up, "I gotta go," he left before Elizaveta could respond.

* * *

**The Anon Review Response Corner:**

**DribbledCaramelLaces: **Thank you! That is enough to make me :D. I look forward to seeing you later down the line!

**Anon: **(I forgot to do this last time so I'm doing both now) Thank you very much! Francis is just priceless in general. ;) Of course! It's already all written anyway. Yes, I less-than-3 their counting sheep CD. I'm glad it did, and there's plenty more to come. :D


	4. Chapter 4

**So here we are, the last chapter. Thank you all for your lovely comments and support! Before you ask, yes, I do have an epilogue planned for eventually. So be sure to look for that. :)  
**

**Characters for this part: **America, England, Monaco, Lithuania, Poland.

**Enjoy.**

* * *

"That was exhausting," Arthur complained as he climbed into the passenger's seat of Sophie's car, "Are all American businessmen like that?"

"Just the good ones," she started the car and pulled away from the building, "You did well in there."

"Thanks," he leaned his head against the window as they drove through the city, "Most of the credit is due to your and Francis's legwork."

"Think nothing of it; it was more of a side-project of mine anyway," she stopped at a red light and looked at Arthur, "Where are you staying?"

"Hm? Oh, Yao set me up in a hotel somewhere," he reached into his pocket to get the address his boss handed to him at the airport.

"Oh, um…" Arthur froze when he saw Sophie bit her lip and look away. The light turned green, so she made a left before continuing, "Francis told me to cancel that reservation. He said you already had someone to stay with, and that would be cheaper, so-"

"So you believed him?" Arthur hit his head against the window. When he got back to the UK, he was switching Francis's pastry with one of his homemade scones.

"Sorry, he usually doesn't lie to me like this," she sighed.

"It's not your fault. Just take me to the nearest hotel for now, I suppose. I'll call Yao in the morning and-"

"It's Christmas Eve, Mr. Kirkland. I doubt there is a vacant hotel room left in the state let alone the city."

Arthur hit his head against the window again. He was so switching Francis's pastry all of next year. "I don't mean to intrude, but is it alright if I stay with you?"

"I wouldn't mind, but I'm currently living with my boyfriend. I know he wouldn't mind having you around for a few days, but his brother lives with us too and, well…"

"Not the most agreeable bloke I take it?"

"That's putting it nicely," she stopped at another red light and turned to face him, "Mr. Kirkland, isn't there anyone else in the city that you know?"

Arthur blinked and looked down at the phone in his hand, "Well…there might be someone…"

* * *

Alfred was sitting in his apartment, staring at his computer. He just needed to press one button and he'd be able to see what he got on his chemistry final and prove to Braginski that his grade was higher, and therefore he was the better scientist. Yes, all he needed to do was press…that…button…

Suddenly Alfred's phone started ringing. He immediately picked it up and left the couch. "Hello?"

"_Hello, Alfred. It's Arthur,_" Alfred rolled his eyes, of course it was Arthur, he only knew one British person, and smiled, "_I was wondering if you could do me a favor._"

"Sure," Alfred answered without hesitation as he entered the kitchen where his roommate, Toris, was currently making dinner. He stopped by the fridge and pulled out a coke before sitting on the countertop facing the stove, "What do you need?"

"_Due to certain unfortunate circumstances and an annoying Frenchman, I am currently stuck in New York without a place to sleep._"

"Dude," Alfred shouted suddenly, causing Toris to jump, "why didn't you tell me you were in the city? We were supposed to meet up!"

"_I just got here this morning git! Can I stay with you or not?_"

"Of course you can! Wait, I should ask my roommate first," Toris sighed and turned around, a pleasant smile on his lips and a knowing look in his eyes, "Toris, can Arthur stay with us for a bit?"

"This is the man you've been talking on the phone with right?" Alfred bit his lip and nodded, "Yes, he can stay here. I was going to go to Eduard's tonight anyway, since its Christmas Eve and all, or did you forget?

"Pft, I knew that," he put the phone back up to his ear, "Yeah, you can totally stay here."

"_Yes, well, that's good. I should be there…soon. I think. Where do you live?"_

Alfred chuckled and told him his address. Arthur said he was only 10 minutes away, and after exchanging some more awkward partings they hung up.

"You look happy," Toris noted as he put the food on three plates.

"Yeah, well," Alfred jumped off the counter and grabbed one of the plates, "Is Feliks coming over for dinner?"

"Yes," he allowed the change of topic, grabbing the two remaining plates and leading the way to the table, "He said he was stopping by here before we left."

"So he's going to your cousin's with you?" he set his plate on the table and grabbed the back of the chair, "Must be nice going home for Christmas."

Toris set the other two plates down and looked at his roommate. "If your parents are still going on their annual Christmas Cruise, you could always spend it with Matthew this year?"

Alfred shook his head, "Nah, he's going to Grandma's house and she never really liked me as much," he looked up and gave him one of his trademark grins, "S'cool, I mean Arthur's coming over tonight anyway, so it's not that bad."

"If you say so," Toris smiled as well. A sudden knock on the door sounded and Toris went to go let their guest in as Alfred settled down in his seat at the table.

His Christmas was looking awesome already.

* * *

Arthur decided to stare at the door for another minute. It was bordering on a total of five minutes since Sophie dropped him off at the apartment building, telling him to call her if he needed anything, and drove off, and about three minutes of him staring at the number 26 on Alfred's door.

It's not that Arthur was worried Alfred would instantly turn him away upon seeing him for the first time, no, that was the _farthest_ thing from his mind. It was just a bit nerve wracking, seeing someone you lo- that you don't exactly hate for the first time after only communicating with them over the phone.

_Especially if you love them_, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Francis's said in the back of his mind. He promptly shut that voice up.

Well, he certainly wasn't getting anywhere staring at a door, and he did need a place to sleep, so Arthur lifted his hand to knock on the door. Before he had the chance to, someone yanked the door open.

Arthur found himself staring at a man only a few inches shorter than he was, with straight, light blonde hair and green eyes. He noticed the man's eyes grow wide as he looked him over.

"Er…hi?" the man immediately shut the door in his face.

Arthur was torn between being enraged by the man's rudeness and being heartbroken over his actions, assuming he was Alfred. Of course, why wouldn't he be? This was the exact address Alfred had given him, so it only made sense that that man was none other than Alfred Jones. Still, something in Arthur's mind wouldn't let him accept that fact. He always imagined Alfred being…taller? And didn't Alfred mention once that he wore glasses? Yes, that was definitely not Alfred, he hoped.

While he was contemplating what to do next, the door opened again, this time revealing a brown haired, green eyed man. Arthur raised an eyebrow and noticed the man from before hiding behind him.

"You must be Arthur right?" Arthur nodded and the man smiled, "I'm Toris Lorinaitis, Alfred's roommate. He just went out to get some milk, so he'll be back in a bit. Please come in," Toris stepped aside.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," he grabbed his bag and stepped inside the apartment.

Toris immediately stepped forward and took his coat, "Please sit down," he nodded towards the couch as he hung up Arthur's coat in the nearby closet, "Would you like something to drink?"

"Tea, if you have it," Arthur removed his hat and gloves before they too were taken by Toris and placed in the closet before leading him to the sitting area. Arthur sat down on the couch as Toris went into the kitchen, the other man standing around awkwardly, not sure whether to follow him or bolt into a different room.

"Feliks," Toris called from the kitchen, "Come here please." The man sighed in relief and followed his friend into the kitchen.

Arthur was left alone as his eyes wandered around the apartment. It was on the small side, able to comfortably fit the two people who lived there. The sitting area he was in was connected to the kitchen, where he could see a small table set up for eating. Behind him were two doors that he guessed went to the two bedrooms. Curious, Arthur stood up and opened one a crack. The walls of the room were painted a sky blue and covered with various movie and comic book posters. The floor was littered with clothes, text books, and video games.

Alfred's room, he assumed.

A sudden crash and yell from the kitchen reminded Arthur that it was terribly rude to poke around someone else's home when he was a guest. He blushed and quickly made his way back to the couch just in time for Toris and Feliks to emerge from the kitchen.

"Sorry, but we're all out of tea," Toris said with a shake of his head, "Would you like me to get you something else?" He smiled at him while Feliks once again hid behind Toris.

"It's quite alright," Arthur looked over the pair, "I don't mean to be rude, but is _he _quite alright?"

"Sorry, Feliks is a little shy around people he doesn't know very well. It's nothing personal."

"Oh, well then," Arthur stood up and offered his hand to Feliks, "Arthur Kirkland. I'm a…friend of Alfred's."

Feliks raised his eyebrow and hesitantly shook his hand. "Feliks Lukasiewicz."

"And now we know each other," Feliks gave him a small smile before he was distracted by the door opening.

"Rest safely citizens!" a very familiar voice exclaimed, "Your hero has returned with the milk!"

And Arthur realized that why yes, he was in fact in love with Alfred Jones.

Perhaps he'll only feed Francis scones for a month.

* * *

"Rest safely citizens! Your hero has returned with the milk!" Alfred announced when he entered his apartment. He looked around and noticed that there was someone he'd never seen before sitting on his couch. Either someone had knocked on the wrong door and Toris was too polite to tell them that or this was Arthur.

Alfred was really hoping it was the latter.

"Alfred!" Feliks ran over and hugged him, "I'm like, totally glad you're back! Your friend is here, so you like won't be lonely and stuff, and we can go now, right Tor?"

"I suppose," Feliks ran over to grab his arm and drag him out the door, "Alfred behave yourself!" he managed to shout as they disappeared into the hallway.

And so Alfred found himself alone with his crush for the very first time.

"So, I'm going to go put this in the fridge," he held up the milk and walked over to the kitchen, "Just make yourself at home. Sorry for the mess."

"It's alright," Arthur called from his seat on the couch, and just his voice alone was starting to make his face warm, the clarity of it reminding Alfred that he was _here_, and he could touch him and even kiss him if he wanted to. "You have a nice place here."

"Oh, thanks," he put the milk in the fridge and stayed there, letting the coldness cool his face for a bit, "We do what we can. Do you want anything to drink while I'm here?"

"Tea, but Toris informed me you don't have any?"

"Haha, yeah," Alfred leaned in the doorway between the kitchen and the living area, "we both prefer coffee, so no real need for tea."

Arthur sighed and sank further into the couch, "Back in England you'd be hard pressed to find a house without tea. America's different I suppose. What else do you have?"

"Hm?" Alfred was so busy looking at Arthur actually form words with his mouth while he spoke and trying to memorize every detail of his face that he missed what he had said, "Oh, uh, if you really want tea that bad, we can go get some."

Arthur's face turned red and he suddenly became preoccupied with a loose thread on the couch. "You don't…have to go that far. I can manage without."

"No, it's cool. I mean, you're my guest, and you should be able to get what you want," he was already back by the door putting his coat on, "We can stop by Starbucks or something now and then get you some real tea tomorrow. Or the next day, since, you know, everything will be closed tomorrow," he paused and looked back at Arthur, "If you're, you know, staying that long."

"I'll be here all week, and I suppose this is cheaper than a hotel."

"Good. That's good," there was an awkward pause as Alfred opened the door, "So you coming?"

"Oh, right," Arthur stood up and grabbed his coast, following Alfred outside to the street.

They walked in silence for a few blocks when it suddenly started snowing. Arthur paused and stared up at the sky while Alfred continued walking for a few steps before he realized he was alone and stopped as well, looking at Arthur looking at the snow.

"It doesn't snow very often in England," he explained, holding out his gloved hand to catch some of the steadily increasing snowflakes, "Any snow that does stick is usually turned to slush the next day. I haven't really had what you would call a white Christmas before."

Alfred walked back over to where Arthur was and looked up at the sky as well, "Well, you'll probably get one this year."

"Hm," Alfred turned his gaze back to Arthur and was struck by how pleasant he looked just then, how right the moment felt.

_Do it!_ A voice that sounded like Liz's shouted in his head. _Tell him how you feel!_

_You've been mopey and distracted for days, you know._ Matt's this time. _Please, for all of our sakes…_

_If you end up banging him invite me for a threesome!_ Alfred decided he was better off ignoring his inner Gilbert.

"Uh, Arthur," Arthur looked him right in the eyes, and Alfred was struck by just how green his eyes were.

"Yes Alfred?"

Alfred closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before exhaling and opening them again, "Um, you know how we talk on the phone and stuff and we became friends and all, and that's really cool 'cause I like you, I mean, I like being your friend and all. Well I like you too, but uh…yeah."

Arthur blinked, "Yes, I am well aware of our relationship up to this point."

"Alright, good, um…" shit, this wasn't going well at all. When Alfred F. Jones has something to say, he'd always just come out and say it. For some reason Arthur has the ability to turn him into a babbling, love struck, idiot, "Yeah, so, you're here now, and that's really cool and I like that, 'cause now I get to spend time with you and stuff…"

"Alfred, is there a point to all this?"

"Yeah, there's a point," focus, he needed to focus and just say it, "The point is, um…" shit, he couldn't do it. He didn't even know if Arthur swung that way anyway, just that he was single. And what does he really know about Arthur anyway? He could just be tricking himself into thinking it was love when it's really not. Yeah, that was probably it…

"Alfred," Alfred snapped out of his thoughts to find Arthur was getting a bit irritated, "just come on out and say it already."

Yes, there was that voice, the one that rambled on about nothing in particular with him just because and comforted him when he was sick. It was love, there was no question, and Arthur had the right to know.

"So, uh, somewhere in between all that, I kinda really fell in love with you," he averted his eyes and finished with an eloquent, "and stuff."

He looked back at Arthur who just stared back at him, face now resembling a tomato, so he continued, "I know there's the whole ocean cursey thing to deal with and you probably don't even like me that way anyway, but I figured since you're here and all you deserved to know and stuff so-" his blabbering was cut off by Arthur's lips on his.

All too soon, Arthur pulled back, "I kind of really love you too, git," he added for good measure.

"Oh," Alfred couldn't help the smile the spread across his face and saw something similar happening to Arthur's, "So that means we're dating now right?"

Arthur grabbed his hand and threaded their fingers together, "I suppose so."

"Awesome," Alfred's smile grew, if that was possible, and he leaned in to kiss Arthur again. When they parted, he asked, "So about that tea?"

"I was thinking, if you have hot chocolate back at your place, we could forgo the tea until later and have some of that instead."

"Yeah, I do. We could just watch TV or even the snow fall, if you want."

Arthur smiled, and it made Alfred's heart flutter in a way that he hope he never got used to.

"I'd like that very much."

* * *

**The End.**

**Anon Review Corner:**

**Trivia: **Thank you! I'm glad you think so highly of it. I hope I didn't disappoint. :D

**DribbledCaramelLaces: **It was either have Yao send him or have him hitchhike...across an ocean (is that even possible?). Yes, Sophie is Monaco. They can't possible just let the amour die! XD Thank you very much! I do enjoy being told I did things right, and thank you for your kind words!

**Anon:** Oh shucks Anon, it's no problem. You took the time to write me such wonderful reviews. :3 Thank you very much! I hope you continue to do so. :)


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